Lore
Right now there are basically three confirmed events in the FireFall storyline. In chronological order these are the Crystite Wars, Firefall and the Melding. Exactly how these are put into the storyline is anyone's guess at the moment, so without further ado, here's my guess. Bare in mind that this is not only unconfirmed speculation, this is outright GUESSWORK. So a couple of million years ago all the mass in the universe was centered in a small, even apple-sized, ball in a spot in the universe. Well, it wasn't actually a spot, since there wasn't anything else around it by which one could compare it to see that it was a spot, and in a sense the apple-ball WAS the universe, but I will let another philosopher take that one up... Anyway the apple, apparently, expanded in such a speedy fashion that it would be considered, many billions of years later, to be a form of explosion called the big bang. Following this rapid expansion many planets and stars were created, then destroyed, then new ones created, then destroyed, then new ones created until a point where life sprung up out of the mud on one of these planets, as it had done many times before on many other planets. This planet, however, was quite different. Life quickly evolved on this blue planet, and many new species of animals and plants saw the light of day, only to fade away and whither out of existence. Then Something extraordinary happened. A race of monkeys became sentient. A form of intelligence, albeit primitive, lit in the minds of the apes, like a fire in the eyes of two lovers. The primates begun using branches and other tools to make their life easier, to get that last bug from its hive or to scare away that looming predator. Then they started killing each other over scraps of food. The level of intelligence in the species, in certain individuals at least, grew, and all of a sudden societies were formed, villages and cities were built, rulers were elected, better tools were invented, but the greatest advancement of all, the primates begun killing each other for land instead of food. This behavior continued until one man, the sentient monkeys had now begun calling themselves as such, rose up against the killing and violence, preaching love, forgiveness and understanding. The other humans nailed him to a cross, and after his death decided to honor the man enough to reset their count of years, setting year "0" four years after his birth and celebrate his birthday on a completely unrelated date. About 2200 years later, some interesting stuff started happening (finally). Sometime around the turn of the century (that's 2199-2200 for those of you not paying attention, shame on you, shame) a new mineral was found. This mineral occurred naturally in the shape of beautiful, blue crystals, varying in size from only small fragments to pillars as large as multi-story buildings. The natural beauty of this new element was immense and new mines were constructed to extract the precious crystal for use in jewelry to appease the population's need for a new, exclusive item to spend their hard-earned wealth on. The scientific community, however, had an entirely different interest in the crystal. The planet's fossil fuel sources were running dry, and all attempts at creating a renewable, stable, energy-source died as the human population on the planet just grew and grew and grew. This crystal, now dubbed "crystite" by the common man, proved to be far more valuable in a reactor core than fixed in a golden ring around somebodies finger, or in the centre of a temple, for believers and non-believers alike to gawk at. This crystal, this "crystite", was the answer to all their prayers. The ingredient that would make man-kind self-sufficient for the foreseeable future. As news of this scientific discovery spread, nations, once again, rallied their armies and the humans, once again, began to kill each other. The powerful nations were determined to control as much of the new fuel as possible, in order, as their leaders said, to "ensure our great nation's survival in the face of great struggle through this, and the next, century". Smaller, weaker nations, unfortunate enough to be located on top of deposits of the blue crystal, were suddenly accused of "undemocratic"-ways and their leaders of "hindering the pursuit of freedom" for their people. Other nations acted in the pretense to be protecting these smaller nations, seeking just as eagerly to control the deposits for themselves. Thus began the Crystite Wars. This war ended as all others had. The weak were overrun by the strong and made to bend their backs to the will of their new masters. By a small twist of fate, the atomic weapons the humans had stockpiled during the ages remained in the stockpiles, and so the world was saved to be destroyed by the next generation of humans. For destroyed it was. The aftermath of the Crystite War saw all the deposits of crystite fall into the hands of the victor, a coalition of nations never before heard about. These nations combined their efforts into perfecting the reactor technology utilizing the crystal as its power-source. The Crystite generators soon sprung up like weeds over the globe and the humans were content, for not only would there be no more wars there would now be enough power to feed, cloth and entertain every human soul on the planet. The crystite reactors did not exist without complications though. The immense power of the crystals was difficult to contain, and one day the containment failed. The cascade failure that followed ignited the planet, the skies turned aflame and fire rained down on the earth. This is the event called Firefall. The immense amount of energy let lose during the Firefall whiped up a storm, the likes of which had never been seen. This cloud took on the hue of the crystal from which it had originated, and in between the clouds and the flashes of thunder could be seen a slight tint of blue, painting the black sky, turning the deadly occurrence into a piece of art, worthy of the best of museums. This storm, now called the Melding, destroyed what was left of the lands and killed all the creatures whith which it came into contact. Only in the eye of the storm could humans survive, and it is here, in what habitable land there is left, that humans now fight for the last time. Here, they do not fight for food, not for land and not for riches. Here, they fight for the survival of their species, the survival of the planet, and the safety of the known universe. Life in the serene center of the storm was never easy, but lately it has become even harder. A new threat has emerged from the wind-torn wastes of the Melding. The Chosen, a new race of sentients, has emerged and is wreaking havoc on the last human remnants. How these creatures can survive the ravings of the mad storm is unknown, but the goal of these so-called Chosen is: the total and utter destruction of the human race. Just thought I'd throw this in for good measure... Category:Lore Category:Firefall